The 'Road' much traveled

I read it in the decade of Dylan and the Beatles, and in its boozy, self-conscious, priapic posturing it seemed a boy’s book, as it does to this day. Its central conceit, Sal’s adoration of Dean, means that if you don’t dig Dean, the book is lost on you, and, frankly, Dean is very hard to dig if you’re a woman. – Marianne Wiggins Some people remember being blown away by “On the Road” when they were young but then find that it doesn’t stand up to mature scrutiny. My experience has been completely different. It gets better and better–the heartbreak more pronounced–with every rereading. – Geoff Dyer The LA Times asked thirty writers about the significance of On the Road: The ‘Road’ much traveled.